350 Wenatchee Climate Conversations NCW

Template Email for your Supporters 

_____________________________________________________________

RBC, the largest bank in Canada, is one of the biggest funders of the Coastal Gaslink project – a pipeline that would bring fracked gas to the coast for shipping overseas. For years now, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have opposed the project, as the pipeline runs through their unceded land.

On October 19th 2021 The Gidimt’en Checkpoint from the Wet’suwet’en Nation issued a letterto over 35 Coastal GasLink (CGL) investors and banks in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. The letter demands investors and banks  — including JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO, Royal Dutch Shell, and CaixaBank  — cease and withdraw all support from Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada and highlights how financing the project violates Indigenous rights and breaks any investor commitments to racial justice, reconciliation, and social responsibility.

RBC sent this response letter on November 8th 2021 back to Gidimt’en Checkpoint leadership. The email response was sent from a basic company email address and was unsigned by RBC leadership.
In their email response they claim “RBC highly values the relationships we have with Indigenous Communities and the unique social,  cultural and historic contributions that Indigenous peoples have made in Canada.”   We know this to be false and if they really valued these relationships they would not be funding a destructive project that violates Indigenous sovereignty and ravages sacred headwaters through Wet’suwet’en territory.

In their letter they also claim “As stated in our Human Rights Position Statement, we respect the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination in accordance with international and domestic law.” Recent violence perpetrated on land defenders at the hands of RCMP further demonstrates that RBC does not actually practice what they claim are core values. Help us call out RBC for continuing to perpetuate colonial violence and oppression on Wet’suwet’en people, who have never ceded their right to exclusively use and occupy their territories, they are complicit in this violence by financing Coastal GasLink and TC Energy.

RBC could stop this violation of Indigenous rights tomorrow, simply by pulling its funding for the Coastal GasLink project. Yet, the Bay Street bank continues to believe that a pipeline transporting fracked gas overseas is more important than averting the climate crisis and respecting Indigenous sovereignty.

Over the past five years, RBC has invested $200 billion in fossil fuel projects. It’s the industry’s biggest banker in Canada… and the fifth largest in the world. But despite its size, a movement is growing across the globe. More and more institutions are quickly realizing that fossil fuels are bad assets. Banks, insurance companies, foundations, universities, and private funds are shifting their money away from fossil fuels.
In order to stop the climate crisis, we need to stop the financing of fossil fuels.

Tell RBC to protect Indigenous rights and pull its money from the controversial Coastal GasLink LNG pipeline.
In Solidarity,
Name
Organization

Shareable Graphics

All campaign 👉👉graphics in drive👈👈

Social Media Materials

Share the RBC response and corresponding response from Wet’suwet’en leadership 

Twitter @Gidimten

Make sure to tag:

• Royal Bank of Canada, @RBC
• TC Energy, @TCEnergy
• Coastal Gaslink, @coastalgaslink
• John Stackhouse, Senior Vice President (office of the CEO), @StackhouseJohn
• Eric Lacelles, Chief Economist for RBC Global Asset Management, @RBCGAMChiefEcon
• Marjolaine Hudson, Regional President Ontario North & East, @RBCMHudson
• Michael Beggs, Business Account Manager, @RBCMichaelBeggs

Sample Tweet #1:
Enough with @RBC’s empty rhetoric. While the bank claims to respect Indigenous rights, RBC is bankrolling @CoastalGasLink and violence against land defenders. #AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL

Sample Tweet #2:
Solidarity with @Gidimten in their latest letter to @RBC: time to stop bankrolling fossil fuel destruction & Indigenous rights violations. #AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL

Sample Tweet #3:
@RBC: your involvement with @CoastalGasLink makes you complicit in the colonial violence on Wet’suwet’en peoples. It’s time to cut ties with @CoastalGaslink. #AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL

Facebook: @wetsuwetenstrong

Sample Facebook post 1:
Following RMCP violent raids and arrests, and @rbc’s disrespectful letter to the Wet’suwet’en land defenders over its financing of @CoastalGasLink, read @Gidimt’en Checkpoint’s response to RBC with a clear message: time to cut ties with fossil fuels.
#AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL

Sample Facebook post 2: 
.@RBC claims to ‘respect Indigenous rights’, but meanwhile is bankrolling violence against Wet’suwet’en land defenders through the @CoastalGasLink pipeline.
#AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL

Instagram: @yintah_access

Sample IG post:
Following RMCP violent raids and arrests, and @rbc’s disrespectful letter to the Wet’suwet’en land defenders over its financing of @CoastalGasLink, read @Gidimt’en Checkpoint’s response to RBC with a clear message: time to cut ties with fossil fuels.
#AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong #DivestCGL